Yay for good soil!

 I keep forgetting how well the soil absorbs water once it gets over the whole dry as a popcorn fart stage.

Late afternoon shot but that is dark and moist soil down a good 4+  inches. The other two beds were still damp as well, thanks to mild weather and no blazing sunshine to blast the soil with heat. I used the cultivator to dig around the entire bed and there were some less wet spots and sections around the edges but it's all good. The fertilizer pellets helped somewhat I suspect, I probably dropped about a cup or two of pellets in that bed and at least a cup in each of the other beds.

 I guess  I'll be planting potatoes this season as a friend is going to pass those two potatoes on to me since they are going out of town for a week and a half. Russet on the top and a blue (Russian?) potato both with very well growing eyes (chitting as I've seen others call it) and then I've got the small red one in the cupboard that is also sprouting. She was also going to see what seeds she had for cool season planting other than what I've got. Told her I wasn't fond of the Chantenay carrots as they are short and stout and I had bought them for putting in the ground. I might stop at the library tomorrow since I'll be out and about in the afternoon.

Now I just have to make sure the soil is sandy enough and drains well, not too much nitrogen and all that for the spuds to grow well.  The soil in the raised bed drains well enough but it still holds onto moisture a long time (as long as it's not 90+), that was the death of my first potatoes I grew waaay back at another place but that also did not have the advantage of full sun.  

After some research, potatoes like slightly acidic soil.... hmmmm. And something I didn't know there are early season/late season and determinate and indeterminate potato varieties. I have no freaking clue on what kind of potatoes I have other than Russet, Blue and Red. From what I read, it seems they are all the same growing pattern which means digging a 'trench' and hilling as they grow. This could get interesting. I see why people use grow bags because I remember last time I tried this I was digging up a potato sprout in the West bed way past potato season and also had one come up in the raised bed. One of the reasons why I wanted to use the crate...... wait a minute.

Dig the soil out in an area big enough for the crate and sink it into the raised bed, backfill with soil..... Brilliant! Potatoes are contained, don't have to worry about escaping spuds, more than adequate drainage.... and takes up most of the area in the raised bed. Still enough room for something on the trellis if I want and cilantro and lettuces... so yeah that's cool! Need to take some measurements and see just what position to put it in, more to the back, east or west end.

Okay then, that's a solution and just so happens that onions and cilantro make good companion plants for potatoes. Some people consider 'companion planting' as using repellent type plants not necessarily beneficial for nutrients. Cilantro is relatively shallow rooted so that's a good reason it's compatible. I'm actually looking forward to planting now! Need to set up the seed pellets in containers now and get them set up for....peas? Since the pellets can go directly in the soil I guess carrot seeds would be okay. Romaine would be fine.

 

 

And the garden is watered!

 Finally! The weather was not heinous, nor rainy, had an earlier appointment and decided not to cook anything so voila! I got out to the garden!

Yesterday it was clear blue skies but then the wind came up later in the day and I thought....aha... and sure enough, partly cloudy with moderate temperatures, perfect for gardening! I think I'm going to put garden gloves on my Christmas list this year. I've got the kitchen gloves but they're too small and more of a hassle to use. I was wandering through a Hallmark Crown store (lots more than just ornaments and cards now) and there was a little garden gift section. Some really sturdy looking green and terra cotta rubber gloves caught my eye and ... price was what you would expect. But apparently... they think only women with small to medium hands garden. They were pretty good too but not my size or price point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yay for a hose that stretches all the way to my bed! I've learned a few tricks for unwinding the coils and winding them back up again rather than looking like I'm playing jump rope just roll it off my hands. One of the things I did was make sure that jade bush got some water. I doubt the amount I gave it would make any difference but if I do it every week it will appreciate it I'm sure. As well as any critters that might be making a home under there. 

So product review so far, this is the Husky 50' 5/8" garden hose and I already like the super sturdy couplings on either end. The hose itself is nothing unusual for the type it is but feels more sturdy than previous ones. Husky is not a bad product line and is the 'house' brand for HD, I kept the cardboard wrap that was on it and the receipt... oh did I  mention I found the box for the previous Aquajoe hose in the cupboard, with the receipt? Yeah, those went to the recycling bin now. 

First pass with watering. Doesn't look like much and you'd think watering really well the soil would be wet further down....nope. I cycled through all three beds for about a half hour because they were all that dry.

This was after two soakings and the soil was only wet maybe a half inch down. Soaking, as in watering until the entire surface was flooded, then move on to the other two beds and come back and do it again. Wow. Going to check them tomorrow of course, but the West in ground bed was perfectly fine, and the South bed needed a third soaking but that is now in the shade most of the day so that won't need watering as much. I will definitely hit that raised bed again sometime this week because it needs to be moist all the way down. I had dumped a generous amount of fertilizer on all the beds so with the watering and using the cultivator on that raised bed, there is good fertilizer all through that soil. I just checked and I have enough money left on the gift card for a large back of raised bedding soil, yay! I am rightfully reluctant to shop there on a weekend so will try and get there in the next week or so. No rush on that, not like I can spend that money like it was cash and I don't have anything ready to plant either. On one of these trips out and back I'll try and stop by the library and see what seeds they have I might be able to use.  

It's still a bit of a chore pulling out the hose and then rolling it back up again, there are portable hose reels of course and some that are even hand held, that would be a bonus for sure. I'll make do with what I've got. Like ya do.

 

 

 

And it figures....

 So I got an e-giftcard to Home Depot thanks to one of my brothers and did some pre-shopping to find the most affordable hose I could get within that budget and still have some left over for one other thing. So, got to the store, almost panicked because I had deleted the email with the card on it but luckily had not purged my email trash. Card retrieved, hose purchased and grabbed the same grow pellets I got before because it was just easier and cheaper.

I didn't feel like rolling it out and watering today because..... weather said there was a 90% chance of rain today. Cue the Ironic song.  Yes indeed, it is raining. A very good, soft steady rain that was preceded by very blustery winds yesterday and this morning. Hose is in the closet where I had stored my previous one and the tarp, the pellets are safe and dry in the apartment. At least my car and the jade plant are getting a good soaking.

Now.... I went rifling through my seed collection last night and realized I am very deficient in cool season seeds. I have cauliflower, Chantenay carrots (not a fan), mixed lettuces and the Romaine, snow peas and sweet peas. That's it. Everything else is peppers, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, tomatillos.. everything for summer that I don't have room for growing all in one season.  My problem is, there really are very few cool season veggies that I will eat and that I can grow given my space. Would love cabbage, but those plants get huge, same with Brussel Sprouts (I know, I have seen them), I have the big crate I could grow potatoes but need a copious amount of soil to do that and maybe some straw.  Not in my budget at the moment. Peas of course, but will need to get some pod peas not snow peas, sweet peas will be for spring, so what else? Oh yes, and plenty of cilantro seeds.

Onions, I'd like to try again but not from seed even though I have them. It would take for-ev-er! I don't really eat spinach or beets, I did want to start an herb garden but would want to start from plants. Need another variety of carrots and maybe try my hand at garlic again... Maybe in the crate with the potatoes? That list says greens...what greens? Lettuce, cilantro and spinach are already mentioned, what else? so that's basically it for me. Not that I have a quarter acre to plant but I guess peas, lettuces, green onions, garlic and potatoes? Good enough I suppose. 

But at least I have a functional hose, the nozzle still works well enough and I have means to plant seeds and free water falling from the sky! 

Still nothing but oregano

 The weather has at least dropped it down a notch so we're officially moving into Fall. Sure it's still warm but it isn't heinously hot anymore. Warmest it's been in the past two weeks is low to mid 80's and we've been out and about with medical appointments other than the weekend.

 Not much in the way of garden photos of my own but here's a photo of a display near the cancer center where I'm currently going for treatments. Individually painted pumpkins where last month that was just grey rocks in the ribbon design. 

My area was sideswiped by a tropical storm so we got spatterings of rain but mostly just that, nothing that stuck around. So very tropical temps and overcast, not the best weather but beats 100 degree heat. I finally had the energy and time go to the garden and water the oregano.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How it started, I just didn't want to fill the bucket so dragged the cut off hose to the oregano and ran it on a medium flow. Ran right over the surface of course because it hasn't been watered in two weeks. 

How it ended. I sprayed and puddled and then got the cultivator and raked and moved the dirt so it all got thoroughly saturated. It is still mostly native dirt and could use another bag of compost for sure, same with the other beds. That raised bed/potting soil is the best due to smaller pieces, the in ground soil I got last time has larger chunks than I like in the beds. Especially for seedlings. I have no idea if the cilantro seeds are still there but will find out when we finally get rain in the spring.

 

I may well have enough money for either soil or a new hose (thanks to some extra birthday money from friends and family), or new hose and seedling mix and will get the larger soil next month. The hose is the biggest cost and most important and am still trying to decide what type. Seedling mix or the peat pellets are inexpensive and a non issue. I made some of those cardboard tube containers but the peat pellets worked so well I might get both and see which one works best. 

 

Next decision, what to plant. I've muddled, and hemmed and hawed and thought about it so many times, I'll just pull the seeds I feel like planting and be done with it.

The poor jade plant is really, really suffering without any supplemental water. I haven't been able to water it at all in months and it definitely shows. It didn't get this bad in previous years and am hoping that the gophers didn't decide to chew the roots and kill it. Although that would be a bonus for sure to have more planting room for Dolores and Layla.

 

The noble goofball pudge boi Rocky. Was trying to get some photos of him for future reference in case he ever escaped without his harness on even though he's chipped. 

Now that I have a functioning car and the weather has gone down a notch, I'm feeling better about my hobbies and gardening more. 

 

End of summer...

 Summer officially ended six days ago, it was hot, cloudy and humid as it has been the past couple of weeks. Only thing alive in my garden plots is still the oregano. We did get a spattering of rain, drizzle really so nothing much watered the ground due to the heat. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evenings for the most part are clear and calm, the caterpillars are ravaging the liquidamber trees again but doesn't seem to be as much as last year. Still some damage but last time I could get a broom and sweep up the poop on the sidewalk but not this time. It rained the night before I was going to do it so that didn't work out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evidence of both rain and caterpillars at the entrance to the garden the day after. Only other sign was damp soil on the right which is due to the grade of the soil draining in that direction. Rocky was feeling brave and decided to thoroughly investigate the lizard home, gathering some spider webs on his nose as well. (The dark clumps are from roots I pulled out of the west bed a few days before).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw a DIY  video on making your own seedling containers out of a toilet paper tube. They were using a much longer tube than my TP is on but I did have a paper towel tube. Measured the total length (11 inches), did some math and it worked out I would get four small containers out of one tube. The only measurement I did not have was how deep to cut the tabs to fold on the bottom. I guessed and that's why there's one just a tad taller than the other. I saved out another tube today and will see about getting some soil soon. I watered the west bed thoroughly the other day and got the shovel and the cultivator out to mix it all around. Needs another bag or two of soil as well. I didn't bother watering down the raised bed or the south bed because that needs a good hose with a sprayer on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay so I dumped one bucket of water on the west side of the raised bed and stirred it around. Hoping there will be some soil on sale next month.

It is also fungus season. I noticed this white cap, mostly eaten by snails or slugs yesterday while taking Rocky out, the next day, it is almost completely gone. Next time I need to get rid of mollusks I'll have to remember that.

Until I get a better hose or fix the existing one, planting will have to wait. Still rather warm but nights are starting to cool down. It's almost full dark by 7 pm now so gardening is earlier in the day, forgot to get out and water the oregano today. Oh well. It'll survive. Something about that patch of grass too, I think someone is letting their dog pee there. Several spots of dead grass just on the surface. 

Not my yard, not my problem. 

Long time, nothing to post

 The weather continues as it has, cooling only slightly this week but then will bump up again. The difference is only about 10 degrees so not enough to leave things open during the day.

The stalwart liquidamber tree and some bare branches in the foreground from caterpillar damage on another one. I haven't seen much damage compared to last year even though I saw a few Mourning Cloak butterflies flitting around a month ago. Yes this is the same picture as last time but that's because not much has changed.

I finally gave up on the tomato and pulled it up. It should have a LOT more roots than that which explains why it's doing so poorly. So on the compost it went, the cage I laid down on the south bed and then proceeded to think.

I decided yesterday to dump the remaining three bags of soil in the bed. Temperature just before sunset was still in the low 80's but at least it was shaded on the garden.

Not much of a level difference after using the cultivator and the shovel to mix things around. I also added a couple of cups of fertilizer and mixed it in because that's what you do. I didn't water because the hose is still useless. I've been using the bucket and jug because there wasn't much to water but now, I need another three or four bags of soil and a good spray nozzle. I need that soil level up to the top so next month I'm hoping to get two bags of raised bed soil and two of the in ground. If there's any on sale that's what I'll get. Oh.. I just noticed in that picture, the one pair of boards look really spooky.

So I decided to get the sprayer from my hose off and opened the closet to find... the rest of the other hose.

What boggles my mind is how can a hose that still has the coiling memory of a practically unused hose have a nozzle that looks totally worn out? Why did they just toss that part of the hose in there instead of throwing it away? I'll be taking both those hoses and tossing them in the trash hopefully tonight. I'm just absolutely at a loss for reasoning and words on the condition of the hose and the reasoning.

No extra money this month, again. So unless something comes through in the next few weeks another wait until next month to try and get supplies.

Horse latitudes and doldrums of summer

 What does that have to do with gardening? Weather. 

"The Horse Latitudes are zones of calm wind and high pressure at about 30° north and south latitude, where air from the doldrums sinks. Historically, ships in the horse latitudes would run out of food and water while becalmed, sometimes leading to horses being thrown overboard."

 

So that's where we are, heat advisory for the next three days. Not exactly no wind, but it is a hot desert kind of wind. Mornings have that cool heat anticipation feel but it is wonderful as long as you stay in the shade. It is going to be 90+ for the next five days with very little wind but thankfully cooling at night but not until well after dark. We didn't open up last night until after 8pm. I managed to get out yesterday after sunset and fill the bucket almost full with water after almost emptying what I had in it to water the tomato and oregano. 

Clear and crisp skies yesterday and today and will continue for another week. The parrots were having a wonderful time in the trees last night and one last one this morning was left that squawked and flew off as I was letting Rocky roam around.

And formatting for photos has gone FUBAR again. 

 

Roses are blooming again after being stripped in July. The flowers are smaller than they should be because it's a second bloom cycle but that is to be expected. Probably 30+ year old bushes and they've likely been doing this from year one. Sigh.

 The asparagus fern is blooming again, wonderful fragrance depending on the wind. It was a pleasant time hanging out in the area this morning.

Stupid formatting isn't letting me post parallel/in line photos together.

So the tomato had some damaged leaves, something was gnawing on them of the insect variety so I pulled them off and doused it with about a gallon and a half of water. Dumped about a half gallon of water on the oregano as well. You can see how it ran off due to uneven soil but it'll survive. The tomato hasn't grown much and the leaves are really thick. Not thin like spring leaves at all but the water well is helping immensely to keep the water around the root zone, as it should.

Something kicked some dirt around in the south bed. I think it may have been a cat but not going to worry since I'm not watering that bed and only have cilantro seeds scattered around there. After the first rains of winter it'll likely sprout like crazy. If not I have plenty of seeds. 

Definitely more like desert weather than tropics because now the humidity is much lower at 32% when we had the tropical storm last week it was up in the 60's. Blech.

 

Staying inside, staying cool as we can until the afternoon when the sun blasts the front wall. Keep cool as you can, hydrate and low stress.